Acupuncture & Chronic pain

Chronic or persistent pain often defined as pain lasting for at least twelve weeks which affects huge numbers of people. Existing treatments for chronic pain heavily depend on opioid drugs, such as morphine, tramadol and codeine. However, these drugs have disadvantages including side effects, tolerance and addiction, which cause many pain sufferers to turn to alternative treatments, such as acupuncture. Unlike mainstream painkillers, which target the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) where pain is perceived, acupuncture targets the peripheral nerves in the rest of the body. Perhaps, it the reason why Acupuncture is the most widely-accepted of all the ‘alternative’ forms of medicine